Tom Schaar

Alex Sorgente marked his second win at Malmö’s Kroksbäck Skatepark this past Saturday which was built-to-spec for the Vans Park Series World Championships last year.

This year’s action was heated in Sweden and a changing of the guard was evident as a trio of teens took the VPS podium. Drop be the Vans Skatepark Series site to view the winning runs, complete results, European Continental Championships results, photo galleries, 2017 VPS Tour Challenger Rankings, and an archived On Demand webcast of the event as well.

Rune Glifberg (Denmark) and Amelia Brodka (Poland) were crowned as the first ever VPS European park terrain champions yesterday. Introduced this year, the VPS Continental Championships provide an open path for regional talent to compete alongside qualifying VPS Tour Pros in the World Championships and a chance to earn a spot on the 2018 VPS Pro Tour.

Vans Park Series has announced that Shanghai, China will play host to the 2017 VPS World Championships for men and women. With its central mission to inspire youth and grow participation worldwide, the Vans Park Series is honored to bring elite park terrain competition and the creative culture of skateboarding to China on September 23rd in Asia’s first and only official VPS-certified temporary park terrain competition course design.

The next stop for the Vans Park Series on the road to Shanghai takes place at Kroksbäck Skatepark in Malmö, Sweden on May 26th with the inaugural Men’s and Women’s VPS Europa Continental Championships and May 27th with the third of five 2017 VPS Men’s Pro Tour qualifier events. The Kroksbäck Skatepark is the world’s first VPS-certified permanent park terrain competition course and was donated in 2016 by the Vans Park Series to the community of Malmö, Sweden on the occasion of the inaugural park terrain skateboarding VPS World Championships for leading the world with their progressive support of the city’s youth through public skateboard programming and initiatives. The VPS Continental Championships provide an open path for regional talent to compete alongside qualifying VPS Tour Pros in the World Championships and a chance to earn a spot on the 2018 VPS Pro Tour.

Additionally, in another historic first for global park terrain competition, Vans Park Series is proud to announce the crowning of park terrain skateboarding’s first-ever Men’s and Women’s VPS National Champions for Brazil, Colombia and Chile. The winners from these select South American VPS National Championships are seeded in the official VPS Americas Continental Championships in Huntington Beach, California.

To see the full list of 2017 results and remaining 2017 VPS World Tour events with information on how to enter or watch live, download the free Vans Park Series iOS app now or visit the Vans Park Series website.

The legendary Combi Pool at the Vans Skatepark once again hosted the annual Vans Pool Party event and capped off another dramatic skateboarding showdown Saturday night. Following a contentious stalemate final in the Legends event, head chief in charge Steve Van Doren settled the score, honoring both impressive performances and granting Steve Caballero and Lance Mountain a shared victory as this year’s Legends champions for their equal 85.33 result.

The Masters division saw a few of the regulars out of the line up with Andy Macdonald moving up from the Pro Division this year and putting together the highest scoring runs to crown him as the 2017 champion. Chad Shetler joined him on the podium in 2nd with Lincoln Ueda in 3rd.

In the Pro division, 2015’s Vans Pool Party champion Tom Schaar showed new lines with refined power and technical skill in the Combi Pool earning him his second VPP championship title and a much deserved win this year. Cory Juneau wasn’t far behind him place 2nd, while 3rd place winner and Vans Pool party rookie, Clay Kreiner wowed the crowd with his amplified runs and his fearless attempts at landing a massive heelflip frontside air over the round bowl’s channel.

Final ResultsPros
1. Tom Schaar
2. Corey Juneau
3. Clay Kreiner

Masters
1. Andy Macdonald
2. Chad Shetler
3. Lincoln Ueda

Legends
1. Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero (tie)
3. Tony Magnusson

For more information on this year’s Vans Pool Party including highlights, complete results, photos and videos, visit vans.com/poolparty.

Pushing through a rather blustery and damp string of days in Australia’s Manly Beach, the first stop of 2017’s Vans Park Series Tour was able to persevere through the multiple rain delays and pull off several action-packed and exciting rounds of competition with a field of the world’s top bowlriders, up-and-comers and all terrain enabled skateboarders.

Friday’s VPS Qualifiers continued with the theme of intermittent showers and although there were four separate rain delays through out the afternoon, the practices and skating rounds went the full distance with VPS Challenger Tom Schaar qualifying in the top position.

Saturday delivered over four hours of incessant coastal drizzle. But thankfully, a dry spell blessed the region for a couple of hours and all hands on deck quickly put the squeegees and blowers to use in order to dry the California Skateparks built course. A 30-minute practice session ensued and due to the threat of more wet weather in the forecast, the twenty semi-finalists were then given three runs of which their best would count as their final score and result. There would be no time for Finals. The delayed webcast churned out the play-by-play to viewers around the planet and the die-hard skate fans that remained in their seats with umbrellas and panchos ready were provided on hell of a show! In the end Tom Schaar held on to win the whole enchilada with diverse runs and consistency.

This morning’s VPS Oceania Continental Men’s Championships brought together nineteen talented skateboarders from the South Pacific Region for a chance to compete in the 2017 ISF-sanctioned VPS World Championships. After frequent weather delays, the regional qualifier event, which is open to local registered and approved entrants, was postponed until clear skies this morning allowed for an adjusted finals competition. New Zealand native Bowman Hansen, dialed in his run with a backside boneless revert on the tombstone to secure his keep as the first regional VPS Oceania Continental Championship winner and an invite to join the VPS Select Pros in the series’ world championship event later this year.

Upstart rippers Keegan Palmer and Jedd Mckenzie also made their way the podium for second and third place spots.

High fives and hats off to all of those that skated, and helped in any way to make this event happen. It was certainly one for the history books!

The Bowl-A-Rama live webcast from Bondi Beach, Australia surely kept us entertained over the past two days. And the gnarly skate action from the Juniors, the Ladies, the Master and Pros proved once again that the progression and stoke of bowlriding remains at an all time high. Everyone that contributed to the effort was a winner in our eyes and minds, but here are the final results for those keeping track. Drop by the Bowl-A-Rama Facebook page for more photos, semi-finals results, video clips and additional linked content. Congrats everyone!